Talent Circles

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Why Good People Can't Get Jobs: The Skills Gap and What Companies Can Do About It

A refreshing short book
by Peter Cappelli, Director of Wharton's Center for Human Resources! This is a
must read for any HR Professional, of course, but even more for anyone who is
in a management position and has the power, or simply the will, to put an end
the current "crippling employer-employee standoff." The purpose of
Peter Cappelli's book is to get "America's job engine revved up
again."

We are all familiar with the litany
of complaints: Companies can't find skilled
workers, schools are not providing the right kind of training, the government
doesn't let in enough highly skilled immigrants, prospective employees don't
want jobs at the wages that are offered, etc. If perception and scattered
research might give some weight to such complaints, Cappelli demonstrates that
they don't add up when looked at holistically, and that they come across as
urban myths.

Are we a nation of un-qualified
people? In a market with a lot of job
applicants, companies tend to look for purple squirrels or unicorns. Are job
seekers unqualified for not fitting a paranormal job description? Does it allow
us to jump to the conclusion that "there is a skills gap" when the
hardest-to-fill jobs appear to be those that often require the least skills? In
reality, lots of job seekers are overqualified: "When applicants far
outnumber job openings, the overqualified bump out those only adequately
qualified... And the proportion of overqualified has more than doubled over the
past generation." Cappelli sees very little evidence of an actual supply
problem and asks a valid question: Isn't it a paradox that the US would rank
seven among 39 countries (survey performed by Manpower in 2011) in terms of
employers' complaints about an inability to fill jobs, while in China, the new
global rising power, these complaints are half as frequent? Does China have a
larger pull of "qualified" people? No — simply millions learn on the job and do so very quickly,
just as generations of Americans have. In the end, the analysis shows that
skills aren't the issue, but market-determined wages are...

Are your kids less intelligent that
you were at their age? Nobody wants to
believe this, but businesses are quick to assume that today's workforce is more
flawed than 20 years ago. There is no evidence to support this "good old
days bias" either. Cappelli indicates that US student performance has
actually improved over the past decades. In addition, studies by the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation (OCDE) do not show any absolute decline
in US scores. Emerging countries are simply catching up — and they do not
belittle their workforce nearly as much as we do. Another great point: the history
of Russia "reminds us that an economy's success is not related to
education in any simple fashion."

So what's wrong? Job seekers and employers talk at cross purposes. Is it
reasonable to expect job seekers to have done the work before because companies
don't want to train people? While it's certainly valid to fear that a newly
trained employee might go to the competition, it's equally logical to wonder
why a newly trained employee would leave... Maybe this was not the right hire
in the first place... Maybe the very culture or a non-existent culture of the
company is the problem. Is it reasonable to assume that filling a job vacancy
is akin to replacing a part in a washing machine — what Peter Cappelli calls
the "Home Depot Syndrome" — and assume that people are mere cogs in
the industrial machine? This may not be the safest angle to increase a
company's productivity or creativity, or to even motivate people to join a
company.

Cappelli mentions two major problems:
The first one is the automated software used to filter job seekers — it
allegedly complies with the mandate of equal treatment of all candidates, yet
ends up generating pervasive unfairness: people can't find jobs even though
there are millions of open positions. How long will the legal requirements be
an excuse for using antiquated software? The second one is the loss of power of
the HR function: "Not coincidentally, the United States has the weakest
human resources in the industrialized world." The ultimate call is
certainly to re-empower human resources, and re-empower recruiters —give them a
strategic role. Brain drain is the death of companies, and so is brain blindness:
"Millions of unfilled jobs are costing the economy billions of dollars in
lost business," reminds Cappelli.

This little book is a powerful
eye-opener. As I was reading through it, it seemed to me that what is initially
presented as a sort of standoff between job seekers and employers may not be
that willingly created by employers, and may raise a broader question about the
ability for established companies to realize that economic survival in a global
economy is more about building and nurturing talent and less about "filling"
positions. The vast majority of the people who look for the perfect match
today would not be hired in their own company. They benefited from a system
when trust in people and intra-entrepreneurship mattered, which is the
deep history of this country: the US started the modern industrial revolution
thanks to millions of "unqualified" people — and Cornelius
Vanderbilt left school when he was 11.

Speaking about team and individual activities it is necessary to point out that this overview provides sample information concerning the role and functions of each member of the team in particular and the whole team at large. Main concern of this material is observation that would help someone as bestsamplepapers.com essay blog learn how to write research paper on job search.

While you don't charge to abounding time for it to replica watches us attending Louis Vuitton totes with the bounded merchants, alone appointment the net merchants throughout that you can access the females Louis Vuitton totes. In case you possibly can yield advantage your cher Louis Vuitton totes, again you can absolutely access ideal versions through the Louis Vuitton internet sites appropriate as able-bodied as by way of their retailers. For those who accept affairs difficulties, about you ambition to yield advantage a amount of amazing LV cast name Louis Vuitton luggage, you'll be able to baddest alike females Louis Vuitton totes blockage awash at the net merchants. These affectionate of alike females Louis Vuitton totes are about around giving the abounding agnate accepted appearance of AAA+ Replica Handbags your accepted LV luggage. Conversely, a amount of food involving Louis Vuitton which cover buylv365.com acquaint Cheap Louis Vuitton Bags with the accurate specifications. They usually annex the unsold banal of Louis Vuitton handbags from the branch of LV anon in the low cost. That is why they can action accurate Cheap Louis Vuitton Bags to us..

Over the years Replica Watches, Rolex has continued to strengthen its ties with the world of sailing and Replica rolex watches currently Sponsor title of twenty major international events such as for example the Rolex Sydney Hobart Tag heuer replica Yacht Race, the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup or even the Rolex Fastnet Race. During the four days of racing, 51 boats registered to date must demonstrate the greatest regularity with every day a maximum of points to lift this trophy on which the mythical boats have already registered their name.

Research paper writing is really important. There are certain rules which are defined to write a research paper which makes it accurate, qualitative and authentic. Instead of writing it at own, we should pay someone to write my research paper. At least they can provide the quality which is needed..

Thanks for sharing the article. It was really interesting to read. What is I think is that market is full of job opportunities as well as job applicants. You just need to grab the right opportunity at the right time. Many job search portals like Times, Shine, Indeed, Wisdomjobs etc are helping out job seekers by giving the platform to apply for various job openings as per their skills & qualifications.